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3 P's

1 Samuel 10:6 "At that time the Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them. You will be changed into a different person."

 

We know the scriptures say that any man who is in Christ is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), but its just so hard to comprehend, regardless here it is; the evidence that we can be changed into a different person. It's only through the Spirit of the Lord coming upon a person that they can be changed. All the excuses of accepting our negative behaviors, attitudes, and faults all need to come to a halt because there is a solution. The 3 P's need to be applied in order for there to be change, Powerfully, Prophesy, Person.

 

Samuel just anointed Saul to be king. After receiving the call and anointing, Saul goes for the first time to worship the Lord and when he is in the presence of the Lord and His servants, its then that the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him. The Spirit of the Lord just didn't tap him, but according to the text 'powerfully' came upon him. Finding ourselves in a place of worship and among other believers opens the door for the Spirit to come upon us. We need the Spirit of the Lord to powerfully come upon us if we want to be used by him.

 

After this impartation of the Spirit of the Lord powerfully coming upon Saul, he is now equipped for works of the kingdom and begins to prophesy. Man can try to anoint a person, but it isn't until the Spirit of the Lord powerfully comes upon him that he can finally flow in the anointing with heavenly abilities to prophesy. Once a person allows the Spirit of the Lord to come upon them they are now available for the gifts of the Spirit. Saul begins doing things of the Kingdom that he's never done before.

 

The final result of the power and prophesy is that it changes the man of who Saul was before.  In the previous chapter when Samuel is speaking words of affirmation to Saul he doesn't accept it and begins making excuses very similar to that of Gideon. But when the power of the Spirit of the Lord comes upon you and you begin to flow in prophesy, behold a new and different person will arise. Accepting the Spirit of Lord to powerfully come upon you, receiving gifts of the Spirit such as prophesy, will result in a that of being changed to a different person.

 

Believers need to start walking powerfully in the Spirit. Utilize the gifts of the Spirit and prophecy. As well as be changed to a different person by giving up status of our old lives. God has anointed you to be a child of royalty and to lead people into his Kingdom. Get rid of the old self and live a Spirit-filled life!

God Knows Best

1 Samuel 3:18 "So Samuel told Eli everything; he didn't hold anything back. 'It is the Lord's will,' Eli replied. 'Let him do what he thinks best.'"

 

Last night I was watching Evan Almighty with my family and the main focus of the movie is that God is using Evan as a modern day Noah to build an arch and rescue people from a soon to come flood. There is a part in the movie where Evan embraces this call from God and in doing so his wife decideds to leave with her three sons. Evan is standing in the middle of the driveway as they pull out, looks up to the heavens and says "I know you do this because you love me." Right then a sprinkler shoots in his face and he says, "Can you love me a little less?" Though this movie is a comical fiction film, truth is, God does have a plan and it's not always the way we think it is going to be.

 

God came to Samuel and told him that the time is coming where judgment on Eli and his family was going to take place. Eli's sons were doing evil things and even though Eli knew about it he didn't discipline them, but God was disciplining the whole family.  Eli's response to what Samuel told him of what the Lord was going to do was let him do what he thinks best.

 

The next time you find yourself in a hard situation in doing the work of God, just remember that the Lord does have a perfect will. Allow God to do what he thinks is best.  God's love is everlasting and yes, with his love does come discipline, but only as a reaction to our actions.  Let us live lives pleasing to the Lord and accept the good and the bad.  When you stay faithful to the Lord and do what you know is right, even though hard times will come, utimately His Will, will be done!

 

Jesus himself prayed not my will, but your will be done.  And we all know the course that Jesus took.  A road of momentary death and suffering in order to bring forth an eternity of life and peace. 

Let him do what he thinks best!

Redemption is Near

Ruth 4:14 "Then the women of the town said to Naomi, 'Praise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel.'"

 

Hope to the hopeless. Nahomi was a married woman with two sons that each married a woman of a different nationality. Her husband and sons all died leaving her widowed with her two daughter in-laws.  Though one of the daughter in-laws returned back to be with her immediate family, Ruth stood. And now we have two widows with no hope of a future, but God had other plans.  Ruth ends up marrying a close relative to her belated father in-law, Boaz and has a child who will now inherit their land. A child who is now labeled the redeemer of the family.

 

Ruth isn't a Hebrew woman, she's a Moabite. The fact that God would use her child to become a part of a master plan, would be baffling to a religious mindset.  Why would God choose to use her? She's not part of his chosen people. That's the beauty of our Lord! He doesn't live by the confines of what religion would label him as. You see Ruth's child was the father of Jesse who was the father of the chosen King David and we know that Jesus the Messiah was to come out of the line of king David. 

 

The words of those ladies to Nahomi were prophetic, but not towards Obed, but unto Jesus! The redeemer for our families! His name is famous throughout all his people!  

 

Hope is never too far out of reach when we place our trust in the Lord. Nahomi and Ruth at one point may have felt that they had no hope for a future. No husbands and no children. However, because of Ruth's obedience, faithfulness, and loyalty to Nahomi she now became the super-great-grand-mother of whom would be the Redeemer of the world. 

Stay obedient. Stay faithful. Stay loyal. Even when you feel your hope for the future may have died, God has a redeemer in your future!

Perception

2 Corinthians 5:16 "So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!"

 

Judging seems so easy to do.  Everything that a person says just seems right to themselves and for whatever reason their own opinions matter more than others. People fight to be the loudest and get their point across. People get angry and bitter because nobody took their advise or opinion and they get offended. Humanistic we're all like this! That is why we need a Savior.

 

When we evaluate other people from a human point of view we degrade people and place ourselves on a higher pedestal. Filming industries make millions of dollars on these type of movies especially geared toward high schools because the judging game is so easy and relates to all. To judge a book by its cover and accept or reject them socially by our own perception is not what God would want His people to do.

 

As believers we need to be careful not to allow ourselves to slip back into that easy trap of evaluating people by our human perception. Just like the scriptures states even before salvation we had our prejudgment about Jesus Christ and Christianity.  Sure we may have heard about him, but we just knew him as a religious figure in a story. Most of Christianity seems like a fairytale to an unbeliever, but once the veil of unbelief is lifted from our eyes, how differently we know him now!

 

The enemy loves to use our fallen humanity against ourselves and we need to be careful not to fall into the same perceptions that we had at one time. It's time to stop evaluating others and have the Lord start evaluating our hearts. When we start looking at people with a different perspective, just as we did with Christ after salvation we will be begin to know people differently too!

You Rule

Psalm 89:9 "You rule the oceans. You subdue their storm-tossed waves."

 

This has been a stirring week here in South Florida as the east coast sits on the edge of their seats, running to the gas stations, stocking their pantries, and arranging their shutters; waiting for the news to state the status of Hurricane Irene.  The unknown is exhilarating as the elements began to take their course. With all the expectation of what kind of disaster this hurricane can bring, it is easy to strike fear in the lives of people.

 

Last night we had a prayer meeting, as it was our usually scheduled Tuesday Night Hour of Power Prayer, except this time our primary focus was on preparation of Hurricane Irene.  After hearing the news about an earthquake in Colorado on Monday and one in Virginia just hours before our meeting, we knew that we had to get to the throne room of creation. We did not pray prayers of requests or demands of altering the Hurricane or for it to hit another place. No, we prayed for God's will to be done and to prepare us for if and when it does hit, so that we can be a beacon of hope and shelter to those that are in need. To pray "God don't let it hit us, let it go somewhere else" is proclaiming a curse on another place and in reality backing out of our responsibility as His servants to help in trouble times.

 

I truly believe that the earth reacts to its environment. Sometimes areas are in need of a shaking to bring people back to repentance and crying out to the Lord. At the same time the results of hearing and seeing such devastation's can cause fear in the hearts and minds of people.  Yes, even God's people; the people whom he tells us to trust him with all our hearts and minds. As believers we need to remind ourselves that He rules the oceans, He owns the earth and everything in it (Psalm 24). Of course no one is ever fully prepared for what creation will bring through earthquakes, tornado's, or hurricanes, but one thing is for sure; when we put our trust in Him we have the confidence to know He rules.

 

Accepting the concept that God is in control in your heart and mind, will cast out all fear.  Perfect love casts out all fear.  And no matter what happens our response to God needs to be "You Rule"!

FOR MEN ONLY: "Humility"

 A DEVOTION FROM THE SOON TO BE: HIS MEETS HERS DEVOTION SERIES

Judges 12:14 "He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years."

 

The human nature of man is to be the biggest and the strongest. It is the battle of the fittest. To pride ourselves in our strength and win every competition. Many men work their entire lives to make it to the top. To be ahead of the game. It is not necessarily wrong.  Weren't we created to be dominate and to rule over creation as Adam did in the garden?

 

God wants man to rule, but not for the sake of power. Jesus came and demolished our human standards of what it means to lead. When Israel chose their first king they did what their human instincts would have them to do.  They looked for the biggest most handsomest man to become king. They chose Saul.  I once learned in school that even electives for Presidents have a better chance of winning if they are attractive.

 

Naturally we're looking for someone to come in on stallions, dominating and declaring their presence as leader or judge.  But the heart of God for leaders is humbleness. Here we see the prime example of a Judge of Israel teaching that to his children and his children's children.  We need to teach the next generation that ruling isn't about power and having it all. Rather go to the people. Ride your donkeys, not your horses, and show you are serious about being their leader, their judge.

 

Evaluate: In your mind, how do you think leaders should act? Think about a person in your life that you respected as a leader or an influence to you.  How did they act and portray themselves? Did it meet your expectations of what you think a leader should be? Learn to be humble and not to pride ourselves in our own glory.

Keep It

Judges 11:24 "You keep whatever your god gives you, and we will keep whatever the Lord our God gives us."

 

I read a blog this morning by Pastor Matthew Barnett, founder of the Dream Center in Los Angeles, CA, and in his blog he tells a story about a man who was interested in helping the Dream Center financially in the early years, but after the tour and hearing the vision he respectfully refused because he didn't believe the vision was possible.  The Dream looked too big. But in time the dream did come to pass and God had supplied all the resources.

 

All morning today, I have been hearing on the radio, in the scriptures, and on the internet, topics concerning finances. From the lack of finances, to giving, and God's provisions. And personally experiencing situations myself. As a blog reader, you get to hear the inside scoop.

 

Yesterday afternoon our power was shut off because we missed the bill and our check had already been used and stretched to meet the needs of the previous weeks obligations including gas, car payments, etc.  We had no idea where we were going to get the resources.  We even asked acquaintances, but they were going through financial situations as well and did not have the resources we needed. 

 

So we trusted God and I called the electricity company and they insisted we had to pay what we did not have so we just believed that God would bring us through. AND HE DID! After work, we got home and had no electricity. We were notified that it would take up to 24 hours until the power was restored, so I picked up my family and we went to the local bookstore to enjoy the pleasure of AC and light! After a few hours it was time to head back. We stopped by the local store to purchase candles in order to have light.  As we were driving back home, we started praying and had my 2 year old son repeat our prayers in hope that our lights would be on when we arrived. To the glory of God we arrived home and after turning on the circuit breakers the lights came on!

 

My family and I stood in the living room rejoicing and jumping thanking God for the electricity, but more so because we didn't have to borrow the money.  God met the need. We had a few items pending online to sell and that evening someone came and purchased a item. Even as I write this, my family and I are in transition of moving from our home of comfort, to live on site at our church property in order to be more accessible to the people physically and financially. I have felt the Lord tell me that if He is giving us all we "need", then why do we keep adding to the list of "wants". We need to learn to be content.

 

We have had our share of asking people for help and can really say we have used up our resources, but our trust must not be in man. Our trust is in the Lord. It is so easy to give into the requests of someone who comes and wants to sow a seed into the ministry if only we do as they request.  The problem is we don't share the same vision. And we can not change what God has called us to do simply because our resources disagree.

 

God is our ultimate resource.  As believers we need to work to build the Kingdom, not work to build a kingdom. God has blessed us with great jobs and finances not for the sole purpose of building our homes or obtaining retirement for our security. It is far beyond that. He wants to build our house and He wants to be our security. We take that privilege away from Him when we take what He's blessed us with and use it to do what we want to do.

 

So I say, "Keep it!" It is not wrong to want good things in this world. But when it causes you to shun your eyes to the needs of the body, then it is time to check your heart.  As for me and my family we will hold to the words of Judges 11, "You keep whatever your god gives you, and we will keep whatever the Lord our God gives us." 

 

If he blesses us with much or little, use it for His Glory. Let us be content in serving Him with whatever He gives us.  

Keep on Serving

1 Corinthians 5:58 "So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless."

Perseverance is something that not many people can handle, especially in Christianity.  Christianity is about faith, hoping in something that we can't see. We have the evidence of our faith, which is a life changed by the acceptance of Jesus Christ, but soon after can find ourselves deceived  into believing that we made the change ourselves. The human mind begins to deny the power of the Holy Spirit and turn it into a self conscience idea. Temptations are around every corner and it's so easy to say yes to the desire of our flesh.  It takes more work to be a believer than it does to be an unbeliever. Because of this so many people lose hope and walk away from the faith.

 

Paul writes to the church in Corinth and advises them to be strong and immovable. A person is only classified as strong, when their strength is tested.  There will be tests as believers and we will feel the weights and heaviness of them, but we have to stay strong.  Even when the pressure comes, we have to resist it and stay immovable.

 

Those that have been in the faith for a number of years have felt the pressure at times. You have gone through a test, feeling the heaviness and have been pushed, but not moved. The results can often be weariness and discontentment with the faith. And that is why Paul exhorts the saints to work enthusiastically because as you are tested in your strength you will tend to stray from the enthusiasm you originally had.

 

In your years of dedication to the Lord you will serve and serve and serve, but keep on serving! It may not always look as if your years of servant-hood are significant. You may be a door keeper in the house of the Lord, but it is still better than being in house of the wicked (Psalm 84:10). Stay encouraged and know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. You may not always get the recognition you deserve here on earth, but do it anyways.  Our reward is in heaven!

 

Do you have the faith to believe that? Then have the faith to stay enthusiastic in your serving.

Star Struck

Judges 5:3 "Listen, you kings! Pay attention, you mighty rulers! For I will sing to the LORD. I will make music to the LORD, the God of Israel."

 

Growing up in Southern California, glamour is a popular up keeping. The territory seemed to have an image to uphold. This is where the trends are set, where the celebrities live and almost everybody wants to dress, live, and act as if they were one of them.  When a foreigner comes to town they expect that you are acquainted with celebrities simply because you live in Southern California.

 

However, when a celebrity, popular politician, or someone in rich recognition from the worlds point of view reveals themselves from their means of conformity to a place of mere commonness people flock, react obscured, or get caught in a trance. They become start struck. I recall watching an 'I Love Lucy' episode when Ricky was producing a movie in the glamour of Hollywood and Lucy wanted to go with him to the studio, but he declined out of respect for his position. So Lucy, Ethel, & Fred decided to go to what they called the 'watering pool' a place where they knew they could encounter celebrities. They find themselves at a restaurant and she becomes Star Struck and finds herself stumbling foolishly, which resulted in smashing a pie in the face of a major celebrity. We see it all the time on reality TV shows, where common people are encountered with their favorite musicians, actors, role models and when they confront them they are in shock and lost for words.

 

There was a women named Deborah who wrote a song after the victory the Lord had given the Israelites over a great military force and she declared to the kings and mighty warriors that she would sing and make music to the Lord. When you realize that Jesus is the Famous One, then it doesn't matter who the Lord puts in your way, still sing His praise, make music unto the Lord.

 

As people who serve the true King of kings we can't allow ourselves to give His praises to others. We need to remember that we are all mere humans and we all need the Famous One to be our Savior. The next time you find yourself becoming Star Struck, remember who the true Famous One is.

 

Sing your praise! Make music to the Lord! Even in the presence of Kings and mighty rulers!

Clear Out the Land

Judges 2:3 "So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a constant temptation to you"

Full submission and obedience to the Lord carries the results of a less tempted, painful life. It's true. God promised a fruitful land 'if' we would follow his instructions to remove all evidence of the previous residence.  In reading this portion of scripture, it can be just a story about the children of Israel and their establishment, a pretty interesting story at that, or we can read this with our spiritual awareness and see that this land refers to our lives.

You see our lives were once full of Canannite residency, paganism, false gods, and a life of really just full self indulgence.  But God had other plans for this land, your life. He wanted his holy people, his name, to be established in this land. And so upon the acceptance of our Lord Jesus Christ a new spirit came into this land; a land that was promised a good future. But did we drive out the people living in our lands?

As you read in the book of Judges, many of the tribes of Israel did not drive out the people from their lands.  Some scriptures say, they lived among them and allowed them to govern the area. They let them stay, but later made them slaves using them when they wanted them. Some kept them hidden in the outskirts of the land, but they were still there. And even some couldn't drive them out! They kept getting pushed back so they just stopped trying.

God promised us this land and he promised it to be a fruitful land! Jesus says you'll know they are my disciples by their fruit (John 15:8). The reason why we as believers are feeling pain and temptation is because we never drove out the sinfulness of our past lives! Many use an excuse "this is who I am", "I've always been like this".  Do you not know you are a NEW creation bought with a price and defeated a life of sin? Stop making excuses and drive out the past residence. 

We need to stop allowing ourselves to live in pain and temptation, Take a look at your land. Do you see evidence of previous residencies?

The time for fruitfulness is now! Let's clear out the land!

The Game of Shadow

1 Corinthians 11:1 "And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ."

I am reminded of the childhood game "Shadow", when a person states, "Want to play shadow?" It is a game where someone will imitate your every words and moves.  During the game, onlookers who are unaware of the entertainment, question why the person is demonstrating your every move. To an extent when the amusement is unwelcomed it can become irritating, however when invited it can actually be very engaging.

Suppose the shadow player took the game a step further and after a day of repeating your every move and word they continue their shadow play game outside of your presence. Friends and family of the player would remark that they are acting and speaking different. People who come in acquaintance with the shadow player would comment that you sound, act, or remind them of someone.  Why? Because that shadow has become an imitator of you!

We are called to become imitators of those who imitate Christ. No wonder why Jesus said in Matthew 18, that unless we become like little children we will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. It is time to pick up that childhood game "Shadow"! Let us stop trying to live Christianity in the way that we think it should be lived out and instead choose to be imitators of those that imitate Christ!

 

 

FOR MEN: "Dependency"

A DEVOTION FROM THE SOON TO BE: HIS MEETS HERS DEVOTION SERIES


Psalm 44:6 "I do not trust in my bow; I do not count on my sword to save me."

The truth is women want a man they can trust, a man they can count on.  Because of this reality men tend to take matters into their own hands.  We feel we need to show our worthiness as well as our vitality.

David, "A man after God's own heart", realized that this is one our frailties as a man. Women want a dependable trustworthy man and children need a dependable trustworthy father, as well as wives need a dependable trustworthy husband.  But that is a lot to put on a man's shoulder.  To carry the wait of another person. To carry the wait of a family.

So many men get caught up in the trusting of their bow; their talents and work. They count on their sword of strength and finances that they wear themselves out.  Years of aging are added on to youthful men because of the pain, struggle, and hardship of dependency on ourselves.

Men do need to be trustworthy and accountable, but the source of this trust and accountability need not to come from their own sweat, but rather the trust and accountability from the Lord. Once we as men realize that we can't do it all on our own and begin to learn how to depend, trust, and count on the Lord; it is then that the weight will be lifted. Paul writes to the Colossian church in chapter 3 and advises them to do all works unto the Lord.

Evaluate: What is stressing you out? In what area are you feeling the weight of needing to trust and count on your own abilities? Can you pinpoint these areas out in your life? Learn to release, to trust, and count on God in those areas and watch as the stress and weight is lifted.  

FOR MEN: "Let me see it to believe it"

A DEVOTION FROM THE SOON TO BE: HIS MEETS HERS DEVOTION SERIES

Numbers 11:23 "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Has my arm lost its power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!'"

It is said that men are visual and women are emotional. As men we need to see it to believe it. Women just need to hear it in sincerity to believe it. Due to this, men tend to deal with a higher lack of faith, which is probably why there are usually more women in church than men.

God tells Moses in Numbers 11 that he heard the complaints of the people and he's going to give them all meat to eat. Moses response is questioning God, how is he going to do that when there are over 60,000 soldiers alone. He was looking at the problem and not the solution maker.

The Lord is looking for men of faith! Men that will trust him and his Word, even when in the physical it doesn't look possible.

Evaluate: Right now in your life, do you have any lack of faith because a situation in the physical just doesn't look or seem possible?

Good Promises

Joshua 21:45 "Not a single one of all the good promises the LORD had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything he had spoke came true."

God will do what He says He will do! You can take that to the bank!

I've always said that if you know God has spoken a word of prophecy into your life, then there's hope! Even if death is knocking at your door and you see no way out of it, remember the Word that God spoke over your life and speak it out over death.

That is exactly what Jesus came to do.  He came to take the keys of death.  He's in full control now! It's not time to go until he says it's time to go.  Hold on to His promises, His GOOD promises, because He will do what He says He will do.

The good promises from our Lord is the hope for our future. I often tell my congregation I'm not afraid of death because I know God isn't done with me.  He's given me promises for my life and for this church. I can be in a car accident or even a plane going down, but I know I will make it through. Why? Because I'm prideful or overly confident? Not at all. It is only because I have a promise over my life that God's will needs to be fulfilled before it's time for me to go.

But what if we have no promises that we know of or can remember? Then it's time to start seeking the throne of God.  Get a vision! Get a dream! Bring those to the Lord and allow Him to say 'Yes, it's going to happen and I will do it!' The word of God says, "We have not because we ask not". So if you want a promise then start asking. Start seeking. Start knocking. He has good promises just waiting for the family of his chosen people and He will see them through!

Don't Stop!

Joshua 17:12 "But the descendants of Manasseh were unable to occupy these towns. They could not drive out the Canaanites who continue to live there."

Throughout the Pentateuch, which is the first 5 books of the Bible, God promised the children of Israel that they would possess a land; the 'Promised Land'.  He told them countless times that He would go before them and with them to drive out the people that currently possess their land. When the tribes of Israel went to war, countless times God commanded them to destroy everything and everyone including the livestock. There were certain people from the tribes, that couldn't be driven out and stayed there even to this day, even though they were instructed to possess the entire land and to drive out everyone.  

Many times in our battle of faith we celebrate over victories of what seems like major cities in our lives that have been taken over.  We come to Jesus, find salvation and He destroys every evidence of sin, simply because He loves us and we came to him in need.  Some people get completely delivered of drugs, alcoholism, anger or fornication. But then there are still small "towns" of sin that still need to be won over, in order for God to completely possess the land. We allow these small towns to reside within us because we already fought a huge city and we think ourselves victorious. God called us to possess the WHOLE land! He promised it to us! God did not save us just to have a part of our life! He wants the whole land and we need to keep on fighting these small villages of sin and drive them out of our lives!

Don't stop! You've come too far to allow Canaanites to dwell amongst the holy land! Don't get tired or comfortable just because the major cities of sin have been destroyed. Don't you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore, purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened (1 Corinthians 5:6-7a). If God promised it then you can do it! Keep fighting the good fight and destroy every evidence of that Canaanite village that is still trying to live amongst you!

Don't stop!

More than a City

Joshua 15: "The territory of the tribe of Judah also included Ekron and its surrounding settlements and villages."

This morning as I continued my reading of the book of Joshua, I began to read the distribution of land to the different tribes of Israel after their journey from the wilderness. In reading this portion of scripture, I found it to be similar to reading a genealogy that we sometimes choose to skip in our reading.  I became curious at the thought of why they listed every name and I was soon quickened by the Holy Spirit.

When churches are announced, they are launched to a certain city.  A city that they desired or that God put on their hearts because there is a need. The pioneer work becomes appointed to that city and the surrounding blocks, that it never really claims the land. The tribes of Israel didn't just settle for a major city, they extended their boundaries to surrounding settlements and villages. They were looking to possess the land and claim it as their own in the name of Jehovah.

God promised each of the tribes land, not just a city! As churches, God's given us more than a city and desires for us to start possessing the surrounding settlements and villages.  Let's start making a difference in the land! Claiming cities are a great start, but what then? Do we sit and enjoy the satisfaction of a city that is now living a "Christianized" lifestyle? We need to keep pushing until the dark spiritual kings of those surrounding settlements and villages are backed into hiding into a cave (Joshua 10:16).

There is always more land to be conquered because until our King returns, the Prince of this World will continue trying to take possession of what is rightfully His. Let us not be satisfied with a church in a city, lets take the land!